All in the Family
by aimdiscord
Summary: KagSess Series Parallel ... If Kagome is not Kikyou’s reincarnation, who could she be? Between youkai and hanyou, the sibling rivalry was already rough, but add a human girl to the mix, and disaster is certain.
1. Girl who falls into a well

Blurb: Kag/Sess - Series Parallel - If Kagome is not Kikyou's reincarnation, who could she be? Between youkai and hanyou, the sibling rivalry was already rough, but add a human girl to the mix, and disaster is certain.

Disclaimer: Not my characters, and I don't want your money for it either! All hail Takahashi-sensei. 

Author Note: Like I said in the two-second summary, in this story Kagome is not Kikyou's reincarnation. The love triangle will be there, but for different reasons. Also I don't see the third movie fitting in this story… so, no Sounga. cries bitter tears 

**Chapter 1: Girl that falls into a well.**

"_Please don't go! I can't bear the thought of it… At least take your swords…"_

"_It is already decided. Tessaiga remains with Inuyasha, for his protection and your own." The white haired man smiled kindly at the woman behind him, although his voice was firm. "Besides, do you think I need a weapon to handle such a meager enemy as this one?"_

_She gasped at his unruffled demeanor. Dragons did not seem like a small matter to her. Belatedly, she realized he was trying to lift her spirits. At a time like this! Youkai from all over the nation were challenging him for his lands, calling him foolish, weak, and all because of her… And he was more concerned about her feelings than their future. A small cry escaped her lips. _

"_Know that this is not your fault, love. It has always been like this, for me. Ryuukotsusei only uses this excuse out of convenience." Tipping her chin upward in the palm of his hand, the Inu no Taisho gazed calmly on his chosen lady, as if to memorize her features. A feeling of foreboding swept through her, curling around her heart. "I will return at sunset tomorrow," he promised._

_Seeing the way his golden eyes lit up with his pledge it was difficult to doubt his word. Yet she had been raised to question destiny, rather than to dutifully accept it. He would need the Tessaiga; it was senseless to go into battle without it. Perhaps Inuyasha did need the barrier he had placed on the sword, but not for years to come… _

_At dusk she left Inuyasha in the arms of his nursemaid, and followed after her lord into the darkness, tightly grasping the untransformed demon blade in her shaking hands._

* * *

Dappled sunlight crept through the gently swaying branches of the Goshinboku, or the Time-Tree, as Kagome's family affectionately called it. The tree had stood there solid and silent, for as long as she could remember, perhaps even as long as her family had lived in Japan, and she loved the tree almost like a member of the family. But her mind was not focused on the Goshinboku today. It was the day before her birthday, and unfortunately for Kagome, this entailed a different sort of celebration than most families. Instead of showering her with gifts, or throwing her a party, her family made her to go to school just like any other day. What a waste! Her mother had promised to make a delicious dinner though – her favorite food no less, Oden! 

Jealously guarding her attention as he told one of his usual tales, her Grandfather tried to draw her away from oden related thoughts. That was the other downside of having a birthday in her family – her o-jichan valiantly tried to fill her brain with nonsense. Not that he didn't try this everyday. But on birthdays his routine became more… pronounced. As if he desperately wanted to make up for lost time, realizing that another year had passed in the life of one of his precious grandchildren. 

"Oi, pay attention!" the old man churned, animatedly waving his arms in the air. "The Shikon no Tama is a very important artifact to our family history. In the past, our shrine housed the Shikon no Tama, so selling these symbolic key-chains will secure our business for another year!" Four giant boxes of 'history' sat behind him, looking tacky and taking up too much space in their house. 

Kagome inspected the tiny glass trinket on the end of a key-chain charm. She had heard the story of the Shikon no Tama countless times in her youth, and it failed to make any impression today as usual. _He wants to sell these? Nobody will buy one… _Yes, it was enough to make Kagome look forward to school after all, if only to escape her poor, old grandpa for a few hours. Dangling the charm above the floor, she discovered that Buyo, her cat, enjoyed playing with the bluish-purple ball. 

"So Grandpa! What are you getting me for my birthday?" Kagome asked brightly, ignoring his pointed glances toward both cat and key-chain, and the idea that they should not be in the same vicinity. 

"Mummified Kappa foot," the aged senior happily announced, shoving said object under her nose. 

_Eww_! She promptly directed the shriveled, wrinkled … whatever it was… it into Buyo's mouth. The cat couldn't get any fatter in any case. One birthday surprise over already, and it was not even a good one! Sometimes it seemed like there was nothing worth looking forward to on her special day at all.

"You should show a relic more respect!" screeched her ojiichan. "Real Kappa's feet are hard to obtain… Oi!"

_By a relic, perhaps he means himself?_ Kagome thought, and then mentally chastised herself for being rude, even as she complained to her grandfather aloud. "Youkai don't exist, Grandpa!" 

"Do too! Honest to goodness Kappa…" Quickly turning toward the shoji screen to escape her Grandfather's ramblings, his ongoing words fell on deaf ears when she noticed her mother, frozen in the kitchen. 

It was easy to tell why her grandfather believed in youkai, yurei, kami, and other supernatural phenomena. Living in a 1,000 year old shrine complex for more than seventy years had scrambled his brain. What was harder to pinpoint though, was why her mother believed as well. Although Mother never commented on his elaborate tales and seemed like the most grounded one in the family, sometimes, during certain stories, she would fall silent and still, and hang on to Grandfather's every word. And that was how Kagome knew that her mother believed in youkai too.

This left only Souta in her camp. And the only reason her little brother claimed he did not believe in youkai, was because he was too scared to admit that he really did. Thus, Kagome was alone in a family of lunatics. She sighed and went to hug her mother, wrapping her in a reverse embrace, startling her mother out of silence. The older lady meekly chided her, "You should be more respectful toward your Grandfather, dear, he only wants what is best for you."

"I know Mom, I know."

* * *

"_What are you doing here?" his normally patient and velvety voice snarled at her in rage. He had scented her miles away, trailing him discreetly, and he had turned around immediately. It was too late of course, Ryuukotsusei had already felt his battle ki, and answered his call. The dragon was on his way, whether his mate was in a safe place or not. _

_Holding out the Tessaiga, she shook her head, unable to answer, her throat clenched in terror. She knew he would never hurt her, she knew it, but … he was so different now. And she should have been prepared, she had told herself that she would be. She had listened to every story of his demon heritage with rapt attention, she thought she understood his appearance and prowess and size, but… he was as tall as the mountains, his fur like billowing clouds of white flame, he filled half the sky… a god of death…_

_She felt very stupid and small, clenching a useless sword that he obviously did not need at all. He had meant what he said, and her doubt had been sorely misplaced. Quivering, she lowered her gaze and found her trembling voice, "I only wanted to do what was best for you… I thought it might make a difference…"_

* * *

Straightening her fuku and heading out the door, Kagome saw that Souta had not left yet. He would be late if he took any longer with his chores, so she happily reverted to 'big sister mode' and walked purposefully toward her very own Souta. Sometimes he was so cute. "What's wrong?" she asked, "You're not playing over here are you?" 

He turned toward her with a worried expression, holding Buyo's food bowl. She quickly divined the situation. _Ah! He is still trying to feed Buyo! Trust a grade schooler to turn a five second errand in to a 10 minute adventure_. Souta liked to watch the cat eat, therefore he would not simply put the food bowl down outside the house like a sensible person. No. He had to cat-hunt. But if he was searching in the old well house, then… perhaps the animal was in trouble. The dilapidated old shack might fall in on him or something. Buyo was ever curious about the old well, and curiosity was renown for killing felines. 

"Buyo?" Souta called out half in fear, half in relief, as they heard a scratching at the surface of the old well. Then once more, Souta's fear of youkai (that he did not believe in, of course) interfered. He jumped behind his sister and urged her to go down the steps into the well house first. As she approached the bottom, the musty smell of rotting wood assaulted her nose, and she wondered with some trepidation how her cat could have gotten inside the well. It was nailed shut more times than she could count, and there were scores of ofuda on the outside of it, which her Grandfather religiously replaced every year. 

A feeling of cold dread crept up the back of her spine, but she squelched it back down. After all, she was the only member of her family that still did not believe in demons and restless spirits. She had a reputation to maintain here! In front of the well, Buyo suddenly brushed her leg. She squealed in shock, then grabbed the cat in relief, turning to face her brother once more. "See? He's fine."

Behind her, the wooden well lid splintered and cracked, and cold, dead arms grabbed her roughly, pulling her backward out of time and space as she screamed. The last thing she saw was Buyo's snide little face, his eyes agleam with hidden knowledge, and she wished at that moment that she had not fed him quite so well or petted him so often. Cats were traitors. She should have gotten a dog.

* * *

_It made all the difference in the world really. Just not in the way that she had hoped. Before he could reply, Ryuukotsusei was looming in the skies above them like an immortal thundercloud. He streaked toward them like lightning, and the Lord of the InuYoukai only moved as fast as the wind, which meant they were out of time. Lifting his love nimbly with gentle jaws, he searched for a location to hide her from the attack. A dry well was only a few hundred yards away, and over the crest of the next hill, a small human village. He deposited her into the well, and faced his enemy._

_His opponent's attention was divided. Ryuukotsusei decided to remedy that situation immediately. Lashing out with his tail, plowing into the earth and ripping out the forest trees that got in his way, he caused the ground to buckle around the wooden well. It splintered and cracked under the force of his onslaught, but it was only partially destroyed. Never looking back, the Inu no Taisho lunged at him with a growl that shook the foundations of the nearby village. _

_Yes, today, the dragon would die for his insolence. _

_But first he would lead him away from the well and into the mountains. So that the small part of his heart that ached for her safety would fight with him, instead of against him. That was what defending her was all about, wasn't it? It made him stronger, not weaker – it had to. He would prove this to his son Sesshoumaru, no matter what the cost.  
_

* * *

As a strange, tingling feeling of power coursed through her, she pushed the ugly beast away, fleeing into the purplish-blue haze. The mist swirled around her, and she wondered if she was swimming through air or something else entirely. The feeling was strangely comforting, as if she had felt this way before, as though she had known how to do this all her life. Viscous bands of light swirled around her, and ahead of her the bands converged into a shining purple orb. Reaching out, she touched the surface of the globe, and then suddenly heavy once more, she collapsed at the bottom of the dry well. In her hand was a tiny ball of light. 

"Shikon no TAMA o yokose!" 

It was not every day that Kagome had the privilege of being fondled by six hands at once. The feeling of floating had been rather nice too. But knowing that a YOUKAI (creatures that she now believed in after all) had touched her, and that the youkai was a female to boot, made the experience less than it could have been. Being bitten deeply in the side, and tossed out of the well into the trees, while it cackled something lewd about the Shikon no Tama – well, that was where she drew the line. She screamed angrily and covered her head with her arms as the Goshinboku broke her fall. Wait! The sacred tree? That damned youkai had thrown her over thirty feet!

Blind terror returned as the Centipede coiled around her and crushed her into the tree. The overgrown bug bit her hand, and she jerked her arm back to safety, dropping the brightly glowing ball. This had the desired effect – the youkai ignored her for the time being and loosened its' coils. What was that thing anyway? 

"Shikon no Tama…" a male voice, harsh with disuse, murmured above her. She turned, startled, only to find she was not alone in her centipede-made prison. Fuzzy red fabric brushed her face as she twisted to face her companion. Above her slightly and to her left, there appeared to be a young boy, but his silvery white hair and his guarded expression spoke of years of experience. 

"Hey! Where did you come from?" panted Kagome, trying to draw breath. The centipede was ignoring them for the time being, so she used a branch to hoist herself out of the monster's reach, until a gasp of pain from the boy stopped her again. Followed his golden gaze with her eyes, she realized her hand was clutching an arrow protruding from his breast, directly over his heart. 

"Oh! I'm sorry! Eh…" Kagome quickly let go, unsure how to apologize. Weren't people with arrows through their chest supposed to be dead? What does a person say in this kind of situation? Luckily, he didn't seem to care. 

"Girl, you can touch this arrow?" he asked abruptly. 

Kagome nodded mutely, wondering what he meant. "So, pull it out already!" he commanded. Behind her back the centipede demon screeched unpleasantly and the coils around her legs pulsed. Without hesitation she gripped the arrow and pulled as hard as she could, only to stare in amazement as the wood disintegrated beneath her fingers in a burst of purple light. 

Several things happened at once, then. A burst of warmth and energy flowed over her body, and the centipede youkai paused at the disturbance, looking up with horror. It hastily tried to rectify its' error, and to crush the two beings trapped against the tree, but it was far too late. With a quick shove, the boy with the white hair pushed Kagome roughly onto the ground and slaughtered the giant, in a burst of golden light. It was over before Kagome could even blink. By the time she came back to her senses, the centipede demon was in twitching, convulsing pieces on the ground. 

And all she could think was… "Hey! You pushed me! That hurt!" Perhaps it sounded a bit immature, but one thing she had learned in junior high was never to let anyone walk all over you. Once disrespected, forever downtrodden. Standing, she placed her hands on her hips and challenged him with a glare.

"You were in the way!" he retorted, not one to be outdone by childish bursts of temper. 

"Well, what were you doing up there anyway?!" she shouted back, then squealed as a piece of the centipede demon flipped past her leg, a bloody chunk of flesh writhing in death. "It's still moving!" 

"Of course, stupid! It swallowed the Shikon no Tama. Once the jewel is fully absorbed the damn thing will never die." Giving her one last curious look, the boy brushed off his robes and stretched for a moment, before he dug eagerly into the youkai remains. Kagome thought she was going to be sick. 

Obviously, it was time to reevaluate the situation. No one in his right mind would touch that nasty pile of smelly, moving goo without good reason. But if he was looking for the purple glow-ball thingie, why didn't he just go toward the light? Maybe he enjoyed touching dead things… Or maybe he was blind. Yes, that could be it. In which case, she would assist him, since her mother told her always to aid the blind. 

With a sigh, she looked around in resignation. They were not standing in the temple complex anymore, she realized, but rather a lush forest near a small connecting meadow. Through the shrubbery, she could see the dry well and behind her was the Goshinboku, but otherwise everything familiar was gone. Where was this place? A parallel universe perhaps? If she assisted the boy, could he tell her? 

She plucked the sparkling orb from the centipede's dead body and watched as its' movements ceased and its' remaining life force hissed away into the air. "Is this what you're looking for?" she asked the boy nonchalantly. His ears perked forward and his gaze focused on her hands. Wait. His ears! He had fuzzy, triangular, white ears on the top of his head. Kagome's eyes widened. It was not exactly shocking, not after the last half an hour had turned her life upside down, it was just… Life was so unfair. She had always wanted a pair of those. 

"How did you find it?" the boy asked suspiciously, one of his ears tilting backwards ever so slightly, indicating dubious displeasure. Those ears, she could not seem to look away from them. "You can see the Shikon no Tama?" he continued, completely unaware of her growing obsession.

"Mochiron desu. It glows," she explained. "Can't you see it?" 

Little sparrows were beginning to return to the area now that the danger had passed, and they twittered as they observed the white haired boy and the black haired girl standing in the sunlit clearing. Kagome stepped in front of her newfound hero and held up the jewel for his perusal. After a few moments, when it became clear that he would not respond, she smiled brightly. "I'll give it to you, but only if I can pet your ears."

Ultimately, that was a fair trade, she thought. Whatever the little purple jewel might be, he seemed to value it more than she did. And she did want to touch his ears awfully much. But the comment seemed to insult him, and he snarled fiercely, laying his ears flat on his head. 

"Don't joke with me!" he spat. "No miko gives up the Shikon no Tama for… anything! I'll kill you!" 

Instinctively her hand clenched around the jewel once more, as she flinched back from his fury. This was the wrong move. The boy leapt forward, claws extended, and sliced off a lock of her hair as a small demonstration of his power, before he narrowed his eyes and elaborated, "I'll kill you and take the jewel, and then I will be a full youkai! Kakugo!"

Prepare myself? Just how do I do something like that? Kagome's knees gave way and she slid to the ground, her mind awhirl, trying to guess what had upset him so greatly. He'll kill me? I offered to give it to him… Is the subject of his ears so sensitive? She whimpered and closed her eyes, hoping she would die quickly at least. The breeze drifted through her bangs lightly, the birds fluttered in the bushes, and Kagome's heart raced. But still nothing happened. Peeking out the corner of one eye, she saw the boy standing there, clawed hand extended.

He looked perplexed. A little desperate, even. "What are you doing?!" he bellowed angrily. "Aren't you going to… you know… fight back?" 

She shook her head no, vigorously. Strange, that he could be so uptight about his ears, yet not mad at all about her yanking that arrow around in his chest. "I'm sorry, I won't ask to touch them again, sorry…"

"Baka! Just give me the Shikon no Tama." He sounded a bit calmer now, but Kagome could still see the desperation in his eyes. Suddenly an idea occurred to her. She would throw the jewel, and he would chase it while she fled the scene! The image of him fetching the ball in his mouth, and bringing it back to her, instantly popped into her head, and she giggled at the idea of him as an overgrown puppy. Fortunately, she never had to explain her nervous laughter, because the boy suddenly spun away from her. 

"Inuyasha!" 

A group of archers were crashing through the underbrush in their direction. "There! Inuyasha has broken his seal! Fire upon him!" cried the leader of the archers, an older woman wearing the red and white garb of a miko. "Ute!" And soon, arrows were raining down on Kagome and the white haired boy in front of her. 

With an impudent smirk, as though he had been expecting this attack all along, he slashed through several of the arrows and leapt toward the attackers. Kagome had no such luck with her arrows. She shrieked and curled into a fetal position to guard her vital organs, and then wondered, idly, if her day could get any worse. It certainly couldn't get any more confusing. 

The sound of trees cracking and crashing to the ground, sliced through by the boy's claws, drew her gaze away from the ground in awe. 

"Well, well. Ever the same, Inuyasha," said the female voice, in a tired manner. "It seems you are still just as rambunctious as before." Drawing a string of dark beads from within her outer clothing, she spoke a few words and the beads began to glow, snapping into place one by one like magnets around the boy's head and shoulders.

Bewildered, he stepped back and looked at the beads on his neck, while the archers wavered in their resolution as well. Neither side knew what was going on apparently, which made Kagome feel slightly better. The woman with the patch over her right eye explained, "I had this prepared in case you ever did manage to break the seal, thinking it best to err on the side of caution. And now I am glad that I did." 

"Inuyasha," the elderly miko continued blandly, "Osuwari."


	2. Boy who was Sealed

Disclaimer: Not my characters, so please do not pay me for my story! All hail Takahashi-sama.

Author Note: When I say "Series Parallel" what I mean is that the story will basically follow alongside the original. However, I want to change a few important events, and show the difference it makes. This in no way makes the story mine. Hopefully the changes are significant enough that you guys aren't bored. A big thank you to my first reviewer in my first fanfic ever, Aaliyah starnight!

**Chapter 2: Boy who was Sealed.**

They were sitting by the old miko's hearth, in a comfortable, tiny cabin on the edge of the village. The miko's name was Kaede, and Kagome liked the elderly woman a great deal. By now she felt much more at ease, and Kaede had explained a few things about their situation. Savoring her bowl of soup, Kagome continued her line of questioning, "So even though Kikyou sealed Inuyasha, you made a rosary to subdue him just in case?"

"Aye child, he has always been prone to doing… the unexpected," the lady said, with a guarded look in Inuyasha's direction. "I thought it best to be prepared. The rosary is keyed to holy auras, so that any priestess would be able to restrain him if the need arises, even my successor."

"Wow! You certainly plan ahead! If I put half the thought into my homework that you do into your job, I'd ace everything!" She smiled winningly at the thought.

Upon hearing her odd slang, the inhabitants of the hut looked at her askance but allowed for her strange behavior. She had informed them that she came from the 'future'. In fact, rumor was already racing around the town that she was a Miko who controlled Time. If only it was true! In that case, she would have quickly and easily wished herself home.

Growling with helpless frustration, Inuyasha punched his fist through the floor. "You mean this stupid necklace will work for ANY miko?" he snapped. "Take it off, busu!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Inuyasha," replied Kaede quietly. The fact that she was Kikyou's little sister was out in the open now, and she did not want to test his desire for revenge. She was not the powerful miko that her sister had been.

"You mean you won't!" he replied angrily and stood, looming over the old lady like a physical threat. "Look here! I am not going anywhere _near_ Kikyou with a nuisance like this around my neck! Remove it!"

The room fell silent, and sudden tension soaked the air. Wondering what she had missed, Kagome glanced uneasily back and forth between them. The way it was explained to her, Kikyou and Inuyasha first had a friendly quarrel over the Shikon no Tama, then Kikyou had harmlessly pinned him onto a tree. The kind of thing that happens every day. Obviously there was more to the story.

"Ano… How long was Inuyasha sealed up exactly?" Kagome asked. "Since everyone in the village seemed to recognize him, I guessed it was only a short while?"

Calmly replying to both boy and girl at once, Kaede continued, "It has been over fifty years since Inuyasha was sealed, and Kikyou died. She met her end that very day."

For a moment, Inuyasha's eyes widened, before his expression seemed to recede, leaving nothing behind but an empty stare. And for a moment, Kagome could see her mother there, the same shuttered look on her face, waiting for the next few words in Grandfather's story to tell her that it wasn't true… it wasn't true.

But the moment passed as quickly as it came and the boy scoffed at them as usual. "Keh! That's a relief. Looks like she could eat dirt just as well as the next person."

Sipping her soup, Kagome watched him pretend not to care.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_It's already been two days since I arrived here. Everyone must be so worried about me… I have to find a way back soon! _she fretted the next morning, as she watched the miko sleeping deeply on the other side of the room. _Maybe the well in the forest holds a clue to lead me home? It's how I came here after all…_

Slipping out of the hut, she reviewed the facts that she had been given. The 'Bone Eater's well', as Kaede called it, had a long and notorious reputation. Any dying or dead youkai that were cast into the well vanished from sight as soon as they reached the bottom. And as for how the Shikon jewel had gotten stuck inside the well, the elderly miko justified this easily enough.

It had been her sister's will to place it there.

Since the Tama had the power to grant anyone's wish, Kikyou's purpose had been to protect the jewel from youkai and humans alike, never to let it fall into evil hands. Yet she had not wanted to pass such a burden on to others. So she had devised a clever plan to dispose of the jewel once and for all. After she and Inuyasha fought, Kikyou entrusted the Shikon no Tama to her little sister. Laying down the groundwork of a spell with her dying breaths, she had instructed young Kaede to walk unto the dry well in the forest and to drop the jewel inside, at the time of her soul's passage from this world.

The Tama, like a youkai, was immortal. Over the years the villagers had disposed of many youkai by way of the Bone Eater's well, and Kikyou intended to destroy the Tama in a similar fashion. Burning it would not be enough; it could not be incinerated. Instead, she used the momentum of her death to drag the jewel into the endless void. If youkai could be killed and cast in the well, to disappear forever, then by tying the jewel to her soul as it moved from one world to the next, she hoped to effectively 'kill' the jewel and hide its body at the same time.

True to her word, Kaede had skipped her sister's last rites. It was the first village ceremony she ever missed, and the last. The elderly miko had realized her calling then, on a hill at the outskirts of a forest, watching the unearthly flames rising high from Kikyou's funeral pyre. Then, trudging to the well, she had done as her sister commanded, and the jewel had vanished from existence as planned.

But now, Kagome had somehow found the jewel once more. Since her touch alone was enough to purify the stone, Kaede claimed this meant she was a miko. Moreover, because she had resurrected the Shikon no Tama, its' guardianship fell to her. Ignoring her protests Kaede had given her a bow and arrows and insisted that she practice. Kagome did not like the idea one bit. She had no special powers, and she loathed archery! Once, when she was growing up, her grandfather had decided it would be a good idea for her to learn how to use a bow and arrows. After all, they lived on a shrine, and he believed in tradition. The experience had ended badly to say the least. She distinctly remembered standing in the hot sun, wearing a sweltering archer's uniform, and watching as an errant arrow tore through two screens and broke a vase in the house. The target at which she had been aiming had been in the opposite direction.

If only she could pretend all of this was a bad, birthday induced dream. Fingered the jewel once more, she took the necklace off and thought briefly of using the 'powers' of the jewel to wish herself home. Kaede had said it could grant any wish, right? The concept seemed childish though, and she held fast to her original idea that the well might take her back to the future. Gripping the stone tightly she continued her journey. Red eyes followed her through the forest as she ran.

With every step, Kagome felt more and more uneasy. The creeping tingling up her spine was just like the time she was pulled into the well…_What is this feeling?_ she wondered. Then, as dark shapes burst through the trees straight toward her, she realized what she was sensing. _A youkai!_

She threw her hands up, but the youkai was not focused on her, only the Shikon jewel. The Shikon no Tama went flying out of her hands, snagged by the talons of a crow demon. Too late, she realized she had forgotten to put the necklace on again. _Oops. _

This could not be good. Panting, she changed course and ran after the youkai blindly. How was she going to explain this to Kaede? Or Inuyasha, for that matter, he seemed focused on obtaining the jewel also. Barely managing to keep up, she followed the crow demon to the river, but at this point she could do no more.

A red blur stretched out in front of her, and suddenly the white-haired boy was there. "Inuyasha!" she cried thankfully. "How did you know…"

"Is it safe?" he cut her off. When Kaede had awoken alone in the hut, she had alerted the villagers to the fact that Kagome might be in danger. Tracking her scent had led Inuyasha here, and judging by her face, he had not been fast enough. "The Shikon no Tama, where is it!"

Dumbly, she pointed toward the sky. The crow demon was rapidly growing in size, silhouetted against a backdrop of innocent fluffy clouds. "Aah!" he screamed in consternation. "This is the second time in two days you have allowed a demon to swallow the tama!"

"Well why don't you just kill it like you did the last one?" said Kagome petulantly, resenting his implication that it was all her fault.

"I'm going to!" he snapped back, before his annoyance peaked as he realized one unfortunate detail. "But I can't fly!" This girl would be the death of him yet. "You're a miko," he began again, "Why don't you shoot it down? Be useful for once." And grabbing her before she had the chance to reply, they sped after the airborne youkai as it reached the village.

Kagome bristled from her perch on his back. First of all, she was _not_ a miko. Second, she didn't have her bow and arrows, and third she refused to help someone obviously so rude. He had just manhandled her like a sack of potatoes, and now she was supposed to do his bidding?

Although she _was_ the one who had lost the Tama, she would grant him that much. And the crow demon did look pretty nasty as it dove toward a young village… child… "Inuyasha!" she pointed in warning. "It's trying to grab that kid!"

Using the opportunity presented to him with the crow demon so close to the ground, Inuyasha dove toward his opponent and sliced him open in one quick motion. The villagers murmured and fell back. Such a display of power was nearly unheard of in their area, and they looked to him with momentary awe. Then he opened his mouth again. "Where is the Tama now? Girl!"

"Hmph." She crossed her arms and turned away. "My name is Kagome. Ka-go-me. Say it with me."

"This is no time for a quarrel, this is serious!"

"Hmph!" Behind them, the crow demon began to regenerate, and took to the sky, piece by piece, as it came back together. Still Kagome waited, tapping her foot. Surely it was not that hard just to say her name politely, one time.

"Oi! Onna!"

_Oh all right,_ Kagome gave up tiredly. For the sake of her sanity and poor little village children everywhere, in danger of being snatched up by giant crow demons, she would be the bigger person here. She would show him that if she were not skilled, at least she was clever. Politely requesting a bow and arrow set from a nearby villager, she picked up a piece of the crow demon that still lay on the ground, earning herself a growl from Inuyasha.

"As if you can hit it from this distance," he berated her, "Don't think I haven't been watching you practice. You're awful."

Resorting to junior high school bantering tactics, Kagome turned the conversation around. "Aww, you were watching me? I didn't know you cared."

And securing the crow demon's flesh to the arrow, she shot.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

From his perch on a rocky hillside, Sesshoumaru felt the awesome flare of energy from the East. A ball of light exploded on the distant horizon, and thousands of tiny shooting stars began to streak through the bright daytime sky as he and Jaken turned their eyes to the heavens.

"Na… nan da sore wa.." his retainer murmured fearfully. "What is that?"

They had been wandering the countryside for some time now, in search of his father's tomb. The late Inu no Taisho had left him a riddle to solve, before he could hold his birthright in his hands, and the power that it entailed. Of course, this was how it was meant to be. Father had always enjoyed a good battle of wits. And now that Sesshoumaru was in charge, and the lands had gradually settled down under his iron fist, he had enough spare time to seek out the Tessiaga. It was an excellent excuse to patrol his borders without interference as well.

The foreign light in the sky was worrisome however. It had a pinkish-purple tint that suggested the holy aura of a miko. Yet it also had the jaki of a demon. And while the currents of bright air rushing by him had no scent at all, they were incredibly alluring.

All in all, it reminded him of only one thing. "The Shikon no Tama," he murmured in reply to Jaken, his cold face impassive, even while his heart was sinking in his chest. The Shikon jewel did nothing but stir up trouble and cause unrest. In his lands.

This could not be good.

Mentally sighing, he turned and continued on his quest. And if the search for his father's tomb happened to lead him to the origin of this disturbance, then so be it.


	3. The Monk and the Kitsune

Disclaimer: I'm poor and it looks like I'll stay that way, because these are not my characters.

Author Note: I quit my job and applied to grad school. It's amazing how that can keep you from writing fanfiction. 

**Chapter 3: The Monk and the Kitsune**

The rings on his staff jingled agreeably as he walked, and the morning breeze was refreshingly cool, but the monk's ponderous thoughts were on serious matters today. _Alas, that the princess I rescued this time was no more beautiful than a pudgy crow! It seems I am ever-doomed to be ill-fated with women. _Ponderous problems indeed. 

_And as for this…_ Fingering the crystal he held in his hand, he focused on it once more. Lately, the youkai in this area had been going mad at an alarming rate. As the monk battled with them, he found shard after shard of this strange, dark crystal. The stone screamed of power and quickly became tainted within a youkai's body. Creatures ran wild with evil energy, including those that were normally harmless. _If my holy powers guide me correctly, I would say this is a fragment of the legendary Shikon no Tama. But I heard that it had been destroyed. Perhaps it was merely fractured instead?_ Definitely a mysterious matter, yet without more facts the monk could only shake his head in wonderment. 

As the day dragged on, he passed a battlefield baking in the hot sun. Many weeks old, soldiers still lay there, unclaimed by relatives, now bare of valuables and flesh. He sighed, weary at the reminder that his own people were as susceptible to madness and temptation as the youkai populace. Might there be humans with shards of this crystal as well? If so, dark times were ahead, and the wars would increase. 

Suddenly, from behind, he felt a flash of youki. He swerved out of the way as puff of greenish-blue flame burst by his shoulder. "Giiiive me the Shiiiikon no TAmA!" a tiny voice groaned, obviously trying to sound lower than it really was. "Give it to meee and I will spare your life!"

The monk raised one brow in surprise. He could feel the presence of a youkai, but not in any specific direction. A low level demon maybe, without experience controlling ki? At last, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. A small skull was sliding slowly across the battlefield toward him, a giant fluffy tail sticking out the back of it. He swatted the bone with his staff and kicked it aside to reveal a humanoid kitsune, covered in grime and gore from the decaying battlefield. 

The trembling fox-demon held his ground remarkably well. He sensed the shards this man held, yet because they lay beneath the monk's purple robes, he did not know how to proceed. Should he bite the man or transform? 

Shocked, the monk stared at the child. This youkai was the size of a two-year old boy, so young that he could not sustain his own youki, yet already he could maintain a human form? Ridiculous. A baby-kitsune this powerful would surely have his parents right behind him, on their way. But as he scanned the terrain, he could see no trace of the living. 

Before he could speak, the kitsune leapt toward his face. It landed on his head and began gnawing his hair, growling all the while. _GRWrrrrr!_ The tiny fangs did not pierce his skin though, and he fought back a smile as he removed the offending item from his hair. Dangling the boy by the scruff of his neck (an odd sensation, to hold a child in this manner actually) the monk looked at him sternly. "Where are your parents, lad?" he asked. 

"I…" stuttered the boy, waving his paws, "I don't have to tell you anything! You're just a weak puny human!" 

"My name is Miroku, and undoubtedly, I am human. But how do you know for certain, that I am weak?" the monk inquired reasonably. "I have gathered more Shikon shards than you for one. What is your name?"

Green eyes wide with alarm, the boy disappeared in a billow of smoke, and the monk was left holding a heavy stone Jizo statue by nothing but the tips of his fingers. It fell and crashed onto his right foot. And from across the field he heard the kitsune's tinkling laughter, "It's Shippou to you!" 

Miroku groaned as he nursed his foot. Kitsune were known for being tricksters, and never giving out their true names. So much for thinking that he could fool one simply because it was young. Ah well, at least nothing terrible had come of the ordeal. For example, had the youngster been possessed by dark crystal shards, he would have felt awful having to kill…

And right about then, he realized his shards were missing. _Aah! Such slight of hand! Perhaps the lad can teach me a thing or two, for use when I am wooing the ladies. That is, if I can retrieve the fragments before he uses them. _

Hurrying after the kitsune, he prayed that he would make it in time. 

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_Splish_. Kagome shivered in the icy water and tried to ensure she splashed as little of it as possible over her shoulders. It was cold outside, but it was also imperative that she bathe. _Splish_. As a modern girl, unused to going more than twenty-four hours without a hot shower or soak, the grimy feeling of her skin and hair had gotten to be too much. But brr! The experience of ice-water on her bare chest was almost as bad. _Splish._

Wondering whether she should dunk herself and get it over with, she turned to face Kaede, and immediately a bright red blob on the hillside caught her attention. That boy was staring straight at her – naked! "Osuwari!" yelled Kagome, as the decision of whether to submerge or not was resolved by her modesty. As Inuyasha plummeted to the ground from on high, Kaede sighed. This girl used the subduing command on the hanyou too often. The boy would suffer damage to his brain. 

Before their screaming match could progress too far, the elderly miko calmed the two argumentative teenagers. "Kagome. I'm sure that Inuyasha merely meant to secure the safety of the Shikon shards. Do not be too hasty in your judgement."

Incensed, the white haired boy nodded in agreement. The girl did not seem the least bit remorseful though, nor did she honestly apologize. What nerve! Of course he had been there for the shards! And even if he had been enjoying the view, she had no way of knowing that detail. He snorted in disbelief as she dressed in her borrowed miko garb without a word of repentance. 

Something about her intrigued him, and he could not stop pondering the strangeness of it. Her face and figure resembled Kikyou, which by all rights should have made him detest the sight, since the memory of Kikyou's betrayal was too fresh and painful to bear contemplation. Yet time and time again, he was drawn to this girl's side. With Kikyou he had fought his natural instincts in order to approach her; here, he had to struggle to stay away. Just sitting nearby was enough to make him want to touch her, to caress her hair with his claws. It was highly irritating. 

After a few days reflection, he realized that it was her scent that befuddled his mind so. It was not only incredibly alluring, but oddly familiar. It unconsciously relaxed him, setting his mind at ease and reeling him in – that is, until she spoke, and he remembered again how much he disliked her. 

Standing before him now in white and red, Kagome glared at the grumpy hanyou, hands on her hips. Meanwhile, Inuyasha discovered that he could no longer sense her light, pleasant fragance through the thick earthy fabric she currently wore. He frowned. The green and white outfit was better; it smelled like her through and through, and the dog in him didn't appreciate it when people exchanged clothing, confusing him with multiple scents. 

"Please, both of you. It is essential that you work together," Kaede droned, repeating her sentiments. "Kagome, you are the key to finding the Shikon shards. And Inuyasha! As the son of a powerful dog-demon, you are the only one here with the strength to defend her. If you both work together…"

"Oi, onna," Inuyasha growled at the girl, gesturing at her clothes. "Take it off."

"NANI?" squealed the young miko, finally recalling the idea that had been niggling at the back of her mind for some time now. "It's because you think I look like Kikyou, isn't it?"

"Feh!" the boy scoffed, ears laid back against his head. "You're nothing like her, wench."

"Start calling me by my name, or I will _not_ work with you!"

"As if I need your help!" 

Kaede's calming words were completely lost on them. 

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"You… bastard… " Trying to make himself as convincing as possible, Shippou stood up straight and puffed out his chest. Night had fallen and he was very tired and hungry, but he had finally found his father's killer. There was no backing down now. After all, it didn't matter if he died here. Without family, he had no reason to live. "You killed my father! Prepare to die!" 

"Ahaha!" The ugly balding creature laughed uproariously, making the tiny kitsune wince. "What do we have here? You're the son of that fox I killed." Patting the pelt at his waist, he gloated as he watched the little youkai's face blanch pure white. "Yes, you'd make a nice… hat."

A flash of lightning lit the sky for a moment, and the second brother appeared, floating gracefully to the earth to stand beside his sibling. Hiten and Manten, the Thunder Brothers. Shippou quaked in fear, not sure he could fight them both at once, although it seemed like he would not have a choice. He had seen what these brothers could do; he had pursued them and watched as they obliterated an entire battlefield after stealing those shards from his father. It was like the shards made them go crazy. Storm gods were meant to be… well, not peaceful per se, but certainly not savagely homicidal! 

For that matter, his father had been slightly obsessed with the Shikon no Tama too. They first had found a sliver of the crystal while hunting in the forest, and immediately the elder fox had abandoned their chase, to begin an entirely new kind of search. And although Shippou had never really understood the point of stalking shards, since those were not edible or delicious, he had followed his father's lead. After all, his dad knew best. 

But when the Thunder Brothers attacked, it was as if his father forgot all about the fragments. Clarity of purpose regained, he had thrown the jewel away to save his son. Now, Shippou would return the favor. Vengeance would buy back his father's honor. 

If only he could figure out how to work these shards. They were supposed to make a youkai incredibly powerful, so why didn't he feel any stronger? 

"We've been looking for you everywhere, brat." The eldest brother stepped forward, his eyes focused on the shards held by the kitsune. "And what luck! You have more shards. Hand them over and die."

Shippou clenched his fist and started pumping his hand up and down, in an effort to unlock the magical power of the Shikon no Tama. This failed spectacularly. Perhaps he had to channel youki into them? As the Thunder Brothers moved forward, the kitsune looked up in desperation. Death was approaching, sparkling with electricity, at the end of a razor sharp glaive. 

Finally, he saw his answer. The brothers had jammed the shards into their foreheads, beneath the skin. _I have to insert it in my body! Then I can defeat them with my fox-fire! _ But before he could do so, a voice rang out from the darkness behind him. 

"Two on one? Such behavior does not seem quite fair." A man stepped quietly into the foreground. Shippou held his breath. It was the same human as before, the Buddhist monk from whom he had borrowed his shards. But he did not look the same. The intensity in his gaze had not been present earlier. Without even hearing the words and insults of his opponents, Shippou stood frozen in place as the monk calmly paced in front of him. All he grasped was a single, terrifyingly simple command. "Don't move, Shippou."

And then the world turned over. As the monk unbound his right hand, the kitsune smelled the stench of bitter, deadly magic, and wondered briefly how it was possible that a holy man could control demonic jyaki. But he did not have long to contemplate it, for a harsh wind instantly drew him forward, toward the monk's back. He was helpless against it being as small and light as he was. But his shock was nothing compared to the demeanor of Hiten and Manten. Their faces, formerly so confident, were riddled with confusion. 

Manten shrieked like a girl as his already oblong face began to lengthen, and his body was dragged toward the monk's outstretched hand. The fur of Shippou's father ripped free and soared into the air, just in time to block a burst of lightning from Hiten's glaive, and then both the pelt and Manten were gone. The fattest Thunder Brother of all had disappeared into thin air as though he was merely an illusion. 

With a scream of rage at the loss of his brother, Hiten launched himself directly toward the monk, weapon extended. Unfortunately, this caused the glaive to tear free of his grasp, as Hiten lost his grip on it in the merciless wind. It shrank, compressed into a small space, and was absorbed. Soon nothing was left. Even the earth was furrowed where chunks of it had lifted off and joined the relentless rush of air. Recovering his palm, the monk sank to his knees, panting for breath. 

"Dai… daijoubu ka?" Shippou asked tentatively, before he tiptoed toward the man. What was his name again? It felt important to remember. "All you all right?"

With a gasp, Miroku held his right hand close to his chest as though he were injured. "It is … nothing…" he breathed, "Merely that I have not taken in bladed weapons before… I think I must avoid it in the future." 

"Bladed … Oh," the kitsune murmured, still a bit mystified by the strange powers of his monk. "Does it hurt? Let me see, I can heal it." 

Miroku sighed and shook his head sadly. "It is a curse. None can heal me, but I thank you for your kindness. I must confess I thought the worst of you, when you took those shards from my person." 

When the little fox-demon did not reply, Miroku pinned him with an accusing stare. Shippou shuffled his paws, quickly shoving the extra jewel fragments beneath the monk's nose. He had been collecting pieces of the Shikon no Tama with his father, yes, but… "Did you see?" he said in a wavering tone. 

Not being an impatient man, Miroku waited for the kitsune to explain. Faint tears gathered in the boy's eyes as he continued. "My father, he defended us from Hiten's lightning." 

It began to rain then – a slight drizzle that informed them this night would be cold and unwelcoming. The monk's purple robes took on a black hue and the kitsune's tail stopped looking quite so fluffy. And as they stood there in companionable silence, Miroku made a hard decision. It was impossible, they said, for a holy man and a youkai to live in harmony. Yet he could try. So far, his life had been anything except traditional. Besides, he had always wanted a son.

"So he did, Shippou," Miroku nodded, "Yes, he did."


	4. Kinship

Disclaimer: I don't even speak Japanese, how can these characters belong to me?

**Chapter 4: Kinship**

Kagome felt like crying. Crying, with a captial 'C'. Small demure sniffles would not do, these would have to be big whiny sobs. She had been here for almost a week now, and she was still unable to find a way home to her family. Inuyasha was a slave-driver and never allowed her the opportunity to return to the dry-well and check it. Meanwhile he was rude, insensitive and insulting. They had gotten along briefly while Yura of the Hair attacked – he had given her his fire rat coat, and when all was said and done, he had called her by name. But after Kaede mentioned his mother and father, he became moody and withdrawn again. 

Apparently his father had been a great dog-demon that ruled over the Kyushu area, and his mother had been a beautiful priestess. The newest addition to their party, Myouga-jiji, a demon-flea, had expounded on the subject at length. Inuyasha had walked out the moment they discussed his mother though, stating that she had disappeared long years ago. Kagome wondered if his apathy was because he hated humans, or if he was upset about his parents' deaths. Perhaps he had loved his mother so much that her absence ached and ate at her soul, and thus his reluctance to speak of her was prompted by love rather than a dislike of humans. 

In any case, Inuyasha had stormed out, and Myouga the flea had followed, ostensibly to talk to him about some grave robber trying to break into his father's tomb. Kagome bet that Myouga really just wanted to suck his blood. She couldn't blame him though, the poor old guy looked so skinny and pale that he might wither away; he needed the nourishment. Meanwhile, she would use this opportunity to sneak back to the well while her protector was occupied. And remembering how badly events had turned out the last time she did this, she carried a bow and arrows just in case. 

Honestly, she did want to assist in finding all the shards, and she did worry that her actions might create animosity in their group; however, waiting for Inuyasha to escort her to the well was not an option. She had waited long enough! She missed her mom! The boy would probably deny her anyway; he always seemed to get twitchy on the topic of the Bone Eater's well. Besides, why should she bend to the whim of some violent, overprotective wacko with ears? Even if those ears were super-duper cute? She could do as she pleased.

Only a few more yards and she would be home-free! Kagome breathed a sigh of relief, trying to release her pent up frustrations. The mere thought of returning to her own time made her jittery with excitement, and tears formed in her eyes when she imagined seeing her family. If the well did not take her home as predicted, then she was definitely going to cry, and if it worked, she probably would anyway. 

As she burst into the clearing, she stopped short and drew a breath at the sight before her. All lay calm around her – the air was still, the insects were quiet. The forest foliage made the perfect picturesque backdrop to the old wooden well, lit by moonlight and shining with silvery tones. But what stole her breath away was the man beside the well. He stood tall, wearing full armor and a boa of some sort, with impossibly long, white hair that shimmered as he turned in a cascade of sparkling light. She wondered for a moment if the mysterious figure was actually a woman, except no woman in the feudal era could be so tall or… well-built. 

Drawing closer to the man with caution, she recalled that he had been peering into the well as she entered the clearing. What did a feudal lord want with an abandoned well in the middle of the night? That is, if he was human at all – the silvery color of his hair reminded her of Inuyasha, and implied he was a youkai. If that were true, then would he attack her for the Shikon no Tama? But before she could phrase any questions the man disappeared without a sound. 

Inching her way toward her destination, she carefully slipped into the well and climbed down the vines within it to return home. 

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Many tears and hugs later, (she had been right about the crying) she sat around the kitchen table with her mother and grandfather. At first, she had been concerned that they would not believe her story, but now she realized that something strange was afoot. Her mother flew into hysterics upon hearing her tale, and her grandfather muttered about sealing up the well, stating at one point that he should have bulldozed the damn thing years ago. Plus, Souta was sent to bed – a sign that serious conversation was about to ensue. 

Looking at her mother's crestfallen expression, she felt guilty for falling into the well. Her mom had always been the rock in their family, the solid foundation that kept things together. The only other time her mother had gone completely to pieces had been when Kagome ran away as a child. Although she didn't disappear voluntarily this time, she associated the two experiences when she viewed the hurt in her mother's eyes. 

"So let me get this straight, young lady," announced her grandfather. "You're saying that you _broke_ the Shikon no Tama into a billion pieces?"

"Well," Kagome backpeddled, waving her hands, "maybe not a billion…"

"That means that _you're_ the founder of our family shrine!" Her oji-chan's face was happy, puzzled and tormented all at once. Unfortunately, Kagome had not listened to his stories in the past. She twiddled her fingers hoping her grandfather would quickly launch into his rendition of the tale. "The founder of our shrine," the old man explained, right on schedule, "…was a guardian of the Shikon no Tama. If there is no shrine in the era you entered, and the Shikon no Tama currently does not exist there, it stands to reason that the jewel must be made whole again before our shrine can be founded." 

Kagome nodded slowly. It was only logical. But why would her grandfather seem reluctant to send her back in time? Considering his incessant melodrama about ancestors, mikos, and youkai, this would seem like an ideal opportunity for her to learn about being a real-live miko. Shouldn't he be excited? 

"That means," her mother interrupted worriedly, "she'll have to go back there?" Her palpable distress seemed like a fear of youkai… no, more than that – a fear of time-travel, which meant… 

"Hey!" Kagome protested, "You two knew about the Bone Eater's well all along!" Wondering how she could have missed such an important detail her entire life, Kagome asked for details. "Grandpa always said it was made from the wood of the Time-Tree, but I didn't think that literally gave it powers. Except you knew didn't you?"

With a sigh, her grandfather began. It was time they told the truth. "When I was young, the well lay unsealed. No one went near it, or believed in the stories surrounding it. My father even climbed into it once, and nothing happened to him. Later, after I inherited the shrine, your mother used to love sitting beside the well to read. She said it was calming. I thought nothing of it, until one day she did not come home for dinner. Searching high and low we found a book nearby the well. Somehow, she had fallen inside and disappeared."

Shocked, Kagome gasped and turned to stare at her mother, who blushed. "It's true," she said with a little hesitation. "Dad researched all sorts of possibilities for what happened and why, but I think the best description I ever received was from someone I met in the past. He said the women of our descent have time-magic in our blood."

"You traveled through time too?" frowned Kagome, ruffled by the idea. All of a sudden, her mother was no longer boring and down to earth, but mysterious and secretive, with hidden depths. The transformation was stunning. 

"Yes," the older woman admitted. "I… I did."

Silence cloaked the room as they waited for her to continue. "Why didn't you say anything before now?" Kagome inquired after a few moments. 

Her mother and grandfather solemnly exchanged glances. "It did not seem necessary at the time," her grandfather stated. "But, I think, it is now. If you want…"

"No, it's all right. I can tell her about it," smiled her mother sadly. 

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

When Kikune, Kagome's mother, had first fallen through the well, she had been even younger than her daughter was now. In the beginning, her father had been ecstatic that the well actually worked. Imagine the money that could be made! Why, they could give tours into the past, and see honest-to-goodness priests and live youkai… She had been eager to explore the past as well, because it seemed like the fairytale worlds that she loved so much in print. 

But in reality, it wasn't like that at all. 

Things quickly took a turn for the worse. She was kidnapped during a struggle between two rival damiyo whose men clashed near the village. Luckily, a samurai captain learned of her presence before she was raped or hurt, and curious about the woman's strange accent and exotic brown hair, he took her aside to question her in private. Kikune lied as best she could about where and when she was from, but even though she had changed her clothing style to match the traditional kimonos of the past, it was to no avail. She simply did not fit in. 

The captain interpreted her lies as proof that she was a youkai. It was partly because of her strange looks, but mostly because this was what he wanted to imagine. Normal soldiers were fortunate if they could kill any youkai they encountered – they were merely swordsmen and could not bind spirits. So capturing a live (female!) youkai was unheard of, and taking her prisoner was greatly auspicious. 

With this in mind, the samurai presented her to his damiyo and received a healthy reward, while Kikune was left considering the irony of it all. As long as she posed as a demon, she was safe from the unwanted advances of human men because they were too nervous of what she might do. Yet as long as they thought she was special, she could not go home, because she was kept under a heavy guard all of the time. 

After a month, she made a few friends in the palace. One sweet young girl, named Izayoi, especially loved to hear her stories and sat by her side for hours each day. Izayoi comforted her, assuring her that someday she would be able to go home. Sometimes they even planned to escape together. Izayoi wanted to get away from the castle and her overbearing family, and longed to have exciting adventures like her friend. What the girl failed to mention was that she was actually a princess. If Kikune had only known that, maybe everything would have turned out differently. But then again, perhaps not… 

As the damiyo's power grew, he came into conflict with youkai more often. But unlike other rulers in his area, he refused to bow down. Making a novel move for a human, he decided to speak to one of the demons. The captive Kikune had demonstrated to him that some 'youkai' were capable of rational thought, and as a result he wrote to a local taiyoukai who was purported to be friendly toward humans. 

Courteously stating that he and his men were at the taiyoukai's service and would be justly honored if their castle were ever to be deemed worthy of a visit, he calmly sent his letter. And lo and behold, the taiyoukai accepted. Perhaps honest, open-ended, polite gestures in demon society were as rare as in human circles. The damiyo's court burst into an uproar, servants ran away, and outlying families began to move out of the area, which all made the preparations take a bit longer than usual, but eventually the castle was ready to greet the Inu no Taisho. 

They said he was the most ferocious youkai for a hundred leagues, that he was too enormous to fit inside a meager human abode, and that he would surely eat the castle inhabitants. Those that remained were quickly disabused of their notions, however, when a sociable, white-haired, human-sized lord appeared on their doorstep. He came alone and unarmed (discounting claws and teeth) and seemed eager to speak with every human present. It was, in a word, extraordinary. In fact, everything about him was – from his long white hair, to the navy markings on his cheeks, and the powerful confidence he exuded. No one could quite believe the situation, for how often did youkai act civilly to mankind, and how many men would have opened their doors for a neighborly visit? But somehow the damiyo and the taiyoukai got along quite well. 

The Inu no Taisho asked for a demonstration of human behaviors and court proceedings. He had long been interested in people, because adopting a two-legged form freed up the hands to use bladed weapons and it was easier to move in a smaller body. For years now, he had encouraged his warriors to abandon their original shapes as well. Youkai taking on human form wasn't a new concept, yet implementing this idea on a massive scale in his army, the Inu no Taisho had won many battles. After a while though, his interest in human affairs had expanded beyond the boundaries of pure utilitarianism. He had started to like them. Presently investigating customs and manners, he took this invitation as an opportunity to study _ningen_ ways. 

Meanwhile, Izayoi used this chance to study him. Ever since befriending Kikune, the hime had been curious about youkai. She volunteered to arrange a tea ceremony for the stranger's benefit, and discovered that he was far more exotic and handsome than she had expected. 

Seeing his daughter attracted to a youkai, the damiyo began to doubt the intentions of his guest. It was a far different thing to be broad-minded toward youkai in general, than it was to watch a cherished child mingling with one. Suddenly the whole alliance seemed like a bad deal. Since it would have been rude (and possibly deadly) to kick the taiyoukai out after only a few days, the damiyo finally found a use for his resident demon. They had kept her locked away at the outset, unsure how a taiyoukai would react to the capture of another of his kind; however, after Izayoi's performance, Kikune was presented to the Inu no Taisho as a gift. Doubly ironic then, that she was never a youkai at all.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"_Yes, quite lovely," the white-haired demon replied placidly. His expression was a study in emptiness. Kikune couldn't understand what was going on. When they first had informed her that she would be given away as a present, to a real-live demon, she had been terrified. Not because she was afraid of the demon per se, but because she knew her game would be over. The jig would be up. The youkai would easily be able to tell that she was just a human girl, he would say so, and that would be that – she would never escape her fate. _

_But instead, the taiyoukai (who was, incidentally, just as handsome as Izayoi mentioned) had said nothing. He had simply asked if such gifts were customary among humans, before accepting their offer. She couldn't decide whether this was good or bad. As the retainers filed out of the room, he smiled wryly in amusement, and she decided he was good. No one could smile that beautifully and be malicious or evil. _

_With the doors shut, they were alone in the room. "I see that I have acquired a most interesting youkai servant," he said as he seated himself in front of her. She cringed, but he didn't add anything else, merely waited for a reply. Observing the wavy haired brunette, he noted with fascination that her nails were painted and her brown hair was growing out black at the roots, showing that a coloring agent must have been used to achieve the effect. How could the humans mistake this petite little girl for a demon? Yes, the hair, nails, and eyes were unusual shades of brown, red, and blue, but it was a stretch to imagine that she was dangerous by any means. _

_When she opened her mouth though, he realized the contrast they must have heard. Her accent and wording were either foreign, or an incredibly distant usage of Japanese. " I told them I was a youkai so they wouldn't hurt me. To be fair though, it was their idea first. I just kept it up." _

_The taiyoukai chuckled, and from behind they heard a tiny gasp. Izayoi crept out from behind a shoji screen where she had been hiding, and looked toward the two others. "You mean…" she said in a small voice, "You are not a youkai?" _

_Kikune was shocked – what was Izayoi doing here? What if the youkai had been dangerous, and he had eaten them both? Admittedly, he didn't, but still… Glancing at the man with the golden eyes, she saw he was not surprised by the other girl's emergence. Maybe he had known all along. "I…" she gulped, "I'm not, no."_

"_That which you told me of your village was all a lie?" Izayoi murmured. Just by looking at her, Kikune could see her sadness and hated to think she was the cause. Evidently her stories had mattered to Izayoi more than she had first thought. _

_Trying to reassure her friend, she hastily defended herself, "No, that was true, I promise. Just the bit about being a youkai, that's all… er…" More importantly, would the girl reveal her secret now that it was out in the open?_

"_You said the villagers could fly – that there were stone streets, markets with fresh food all year long…" Izayoi whimpered. And finally, the real reason why this was upsetting her so much, "You did not trust me enough to speak the truth?" _

_The youkai said nothing, only watched as the two human girls spoke and observed their demeanor. Remarkably, he could detect no trace of deception from the brown-haired girl on the floor, yet the other felt certain she had been deceived. Even more entertaining – both girls were ignoring him in favor of each other. Kikune twisted her hands into her kimono and replied nervously, "Things are very different in my city. Technically I told the truth, I just didn't correct your assumption… I'm sorry, I should have said something sooner…"_

_Izayoi stood gracefully, and bowed deeply to the taiyoukai. "My apologies for such a disturbance, my lord. I will not intrude again."_

_As she exited the chamber, the taiyoukai chuckled again, and Kikune turned on him angrily. "It's not funny! She's really upset." At this, he laughed even harder. Such interesting creatures, these girls. _

"Mom?" Kagome asked softly. Her mother seemed lost in a memory and had stopped recounting the tale. Grandfather was sitting close by holding his tea, and nodding his head as though he knew what she was thinking. And he did. He had heard this story before and it held no surprises, only a shared sense of sadness. 

From outside the door, they heard a scuffling sound, and it was just enough to break her mother's concentration. The older lady sighed and rose to her feet, opening the screen to their kitchen. _Thump!_ Souta fell backwards as the door slid back, but it was too late to pretend that he had not been eavesdropping. Too shell-shocked to even make excuses, the boy gazed up at his mother with teary eyes. She nodded and he silently joined them at the table. 

"So where was I?" smiled her mother, to both her children this time. Kagome wondered where she found such a reserve of patience and fortitude. "Ah, yes. The youkai accepted me as a gift, even though he could obviously tell I had been fibbing to the other humans about my true nature all along. I think he found it funny that no one had noticed, more than anything else. And at the end of his stay at the castle, he took me too. 

"I thought that he had seriously taken the damiyo up on his offer," said Kikune. Her cheeks reddened slightly. "But in the end, he simply asked me where my village was, and kindly offered to take me there. He said, if my stories were to be believed, he very much wanted to see the place too." 

"So you told him about the well?" Kagome asked, dumbstruck. It didn't seem like a good idea to give up such valuable information to a stranger. Well, she had told Inuyasha, but that was because the villagers had already known about the properties of the well, and… Oh wait. That was because of her mother too! "Hey, Mom!" she asked out of the blue. "Do you remember a miko named Kaede?"

"Kaede?" her mother puzzled over the name. "No, I'm sorry. Was that one of the people you met?"

"Um… yea." Maybe her mother had never gone to the village beside the well. Besides, interrupting the story for such a trivial detail was rude. She chastised herself. "It's nothing. Please go on."

"Well, I told him about the time-traveling well," continued Kikune, "And he expressed a desire to see me again… So once Father was all right with the matter, I returned. I traveled many times across the well to see him." Now the blush was clearly visible, snaking its way across her cheeks. Souta and Kagome exchanged glances. They had never seen their mother embarrassed before. 

"Once when I returned, Izayoi was there. She said that she had always longed for adventure, and that she did not want us to part in anger, so she had run away from home to be with us. I'm not sure if she missed him more than me, but in any case, it caused quite a scandal. Her disappearance caused the damiyo to attack every youkai in his area. And as soon as the youkai caught wind of the rumor, they made even more trouble for my lord. 

"He encouraged Izayoi to go home, except her father tossed her right back out again. The damiyo maintained she was spoiled and insisted that he had no use for a ruined daughter. I remember she cried for days. After that, he kept us both by his side.

"And eventually…" Here, her mother paused and drew a deep breath. "I found out that I was pregnant."

Souta's eyes nearly came out of his head at this news. Turning to his sister, he broke into a wide grin. "Whoa! Kagome! And all these years I thought you were just a dorky sister. I had no idea you were so cool!" 

Kagome motioned for him to shut up with one hand, while staring at her mother. Little brothers could really be pests sometimes. Couldn't he see that this was a difficult story to tell? No point in making things worse. And surely, her mother would have said something by now if it were true. 

"Young man!" interrupted their grandfather opportunely. "I'll have you know that no miko from this family is related to a youkai in any way, shape, or form! This was many years ago, when your mother was a young girl!" 

"So what happened then?" Souta asked, unable to contain himself. The sun had been down for hours, and the whole lot of them should have been in bed long ago, but no move was made to evict Souta from the kitchen or to leave the story for another day. Both children were completely enthralled. 

For a moment, Kikune tensed, then eased her grip on her cup. "He asked me to marry him."

"_You have a son already?" Kikune responded. "That's wonderful! What's he like?" _

_They were walking in the woods, under the peaceful afternoon canopy. Pacing a few more steps, the Inu no Taisho shook his head. At last, he turned to face her with a cryptic reply and a small smile. "He tries very hard." _

"The other youkai would not accept a human as their lady, and this created a whole new set of problems for him. He was often gone, and I had only Izayoi for company. But once our son came, he practically hovered over us. Oh, he was the most wonderful baby – with little furry dog-ears, and white hair." The more she said the easier the words flowed, and Kikune seemed almost happy at this point, while remembering the tiny figure. 

Oji-chan snorted at the thought of one of his grandchildren having puppy-ears of all things, but he held his peace. It was all long past, and even if he had known how painful things would become, could he honestly conclude that things should have ended differently? 

"Dog-ears?" Souta asked with great uncertainty. 

"Yes! And little claws," Kikune sighed happily. Her eyes had a starry glaze to them. "I suppose you'd have to see him to understand. I think I have a picture somewhere… Let's see…"

As their mother moved to rummage around in one of the drawers, Kagome added under her breath, "Weird. Sounds like Inuyasha." 

Grandfather froze and stared at her, aghast. "What did you say?" 

"Er…" Squirming, she tried to figure out if she had done something wrong. She had merely been contributing to the conversation to let them know she believed the story. "I said, it sounds like Inuyasha?"

This time the whole room fell still. Overwhelmed, her mother gripped the counter to keep from falling and looked to her father for reassurance. "That was his name…"

"… That was what he named our son."


	5. The Aristocratic Assassin

Disclaimer: Not mine. No money here.

Author Note: So, I named Kagome's mother "Kikune" because I was watching an anime with a character named Kikune right as I wrote the chapter. I apologize if the mother has a name in the series that I have mistakenly overlooked. I don't think she does.

**Chapter 5: The Aristocratic Assassin**

Staring down into the depths of the well was getting him nowhere. With a huff, Inuyasha crossed his arms. He had a bad feeling about this. Some of the most important events of his life revolved around this rotten, damned well. His mother's disappearance, Kikyou's betrayal, and finally the strange new girl's arrival – all had occurred right around here. The forest carried many of his memories, and most of them weren't good, but he was still here and still hopeful as he carefully surveyed the bottom of the well. Her scent trailed off at its lowest part. Should he jump in? 

Finally, a blue light lit up the dirt below and Kagome's nice, relaxing scent filled his nostrils. This time he really did leap in. Hoisting her out of the well, he started to yell the minute her feet touched the ground. "Where have you been?" he shouted. 

Her reaction was completely unexpected. Flinging her arms around his torso, she hugged the daylights out of him, and immediately started to cry. The hanyou went into shock. _Girl. Hugging. Me_. In fact, he only came out of his proximity-induced trauma when she grabbed his face between her hands and sniveled, loudly. "It's true!" she exclaimed excitedly, "You have her nose." 

"Crazy girl. What are you crying about?" he demanded. "You're the one who left." 

"Inuyasha!" Looking him straight in the eye, she exclaimed abruptly, "How much do you remember about your mother?" It seemed too remarkable to be true, but the evidence was too great to ignore. Remembering her mother's tears, upon hearing Inuyasha's name for the first time in over twenty years, had made her want to help. Her mother never cried! This was only the third time in living memory that Kagome could recall it happening. And the first two times had been tears of relief. So technically, this was a first. The kind-hearted lady had marched silently all the way to the well, then moved to climb over the edge, before she finally broke down. How could she face her son, she asked, what if he thought he had been abandoned? Kagome had promised to speak with Inuyasha, and her grandfather had escorted a heartbroken mother back to the house. 

Now all she had to do was explain it to Inuyasha. Simple. No problem.

"Um…" Talking to the girl was too difficult, he decided, since the subject kept changing. Maybe he could let her do the talking, while he focused on this uncomfortable premonition he had. Usually his gut feelings were important, and this one was growing stronger. "Not much really…"

"Because…" Kagome sniffed, unsure of how to begin. And unfortunately, when she got nervous, she tended to speak too much, too quickly. "You see… I went home and my mother said that she had gone back in time once too, and that she met a youkai and they got married and had a baby…"

By this time, Inuyasha had tuned her out entirely. A warning was screaming at him from the back of his mind. It felt like… concealed youki. "Get down!" he hissed, as he pushed her head lower and swiveled in place. "Can you sense it?"

"Sense what?" she inquired, slightly miffed to have her narrative disrupted. 

"This incredible youki all around us! It's blanketing the entire forest!" 

Kagome blinked at him in a stupor, finally recognizing the tingling feeling along her spine for what it was. Oops. Okay, so maybe the forest in the middle of the night surrounded by dangerous beasts was not an ideal location for storytelling. But she had promised her mother she would be right back! She cast a longing glance at the well.

"Hmph, some miko," resumed Inuyasha as he dragged her away by the arm. "Come on, we have to hurry back to the village." 

Except it was too late. As they ran, the wind picked up and they felt the youki swelling around them, no longer concealed. It swirled into existence, almost suffocating in its presence, and from the treeline a vision in white stepped forth. Kagome recognized the feudal lord that she had seen earlier that evening. 

Apparently the hanyou recognized him too. He faltered and took a step backward, stumbling into the miko's form. "Teme! Sesshoumaru!" he growled as ferociously as he could.

"Oh," the man in white intoned, his voice dark and cold. "How nice that you remember the face of your older brother." 

_Brother?_she thought. _I don't remember Mom saying anything about another brother… _Viewing both men, youkai and hanyou, she realized they really did look a lot alike, at least from what she could see in the dim, pre-dawn light. She moved forward to ask a question of her own, and right about then the whole night turned sour.

"Hn. Is that a human female?" the stranger continued even more icily. "Fitting that the shame of our family would associate with such a worthless creature." 

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_This guy seems very hostile, _Kagome thought for the hundredth time. _He definitely takes sibling rivalry to a whole new level._ It increased her burning desire to help Inuyasha win this fight. This battle was the most difficult one she had seen him face so far. They were both very tired, having missed a night of sleep, and this Sesshoumaru guy was extremely fast. Plus, Inuyasha seemed especially affected by his enemy. Barbs that normally should have rolled off stung deep in this case. It seemed like he really cared about what his half-brother thought. Which didn't make much sense to Kagome, considering how disfunctional their relationship was. 

Sesshoumaru had told them repeatedly how much he despised humans and hanyou, and she struggled to remember an English line from one of the Shakespearean plays they had been forced to read in school. How did it go? _Methinks the lady dost protest too much._ Of course, Sesshoumaru wasn't a lady, and she couldn't quite figure out how to fit it into the conversation, but it would have been a great insult if she had had the time to work on it. At least she had gotten in _one_ good comment though! After pointing out that Sesshoumaru would lose face if his little brother could do something that he could not, she had watched the man's reaction and his face had been priceless. He had glared at her – yep, that's right, insignificant little human girl had managed to annoy him. And then he had stood aside to see for himself what Inuyasha was capable of. 

Finished trouncing the little green nasty thing, Kagome pulled herself up and focused on the fight once more. The whole experience was quickly becoming surreal. She was in the past, in another world, watching two non-human super-beings fight, while standing on a HUGE pile of skulls, and to top it all off she was deliriously tired! The pile of bones was disturbing enough. Her mother had said that the Inu no Taisho was kind, but the skulls in his stomach didn't hold with that statement. Come to think of it, the size of the skeleton was astounding too. Hadn't her mother mentioned mating with this guy? Gross. She tacked this on to her list of things never to discuss with Mother. 

A red blur shot across the room, only to run full tilt into a white wall. When the dust cleared, Kagome shivered at what she saw. Inuyasha's brother had stopped his opponent cold using only one hand; he hadn't even swayed when Inuyasha hit him. In the subsequent silence, she wondered what they were thinking. Sure, Inuyasha wasn't as fast or as strong as this guy, but… he was… Dammit, she wanted him to win! 

She didn't have to wonder long – Sesshoumaru growled and moved in for the kill, slamming Inuyasha backward in to the heap of skulls with a crunch. Her eyes widened in horror. This was it! He was going to kill Inuyasha! Time seemed to slow down, and she saw the man hesitate as if waging an internal battle, wiggling his fingers in contemplation. Terror did not allow her to analyze the pause though; all she knew was that she had to help her friend. With a shriek she pushed herself forward and heard the ominous sliding sound of metal against metal. 

This time, the fight really did grind to a halt. Both brothers watched, stupefied, while she stared at the incriminating evidence in her hand in complete surprise. _I'm innocent! I didn't do it!_ she thought frantically. Common sense told her that neither youkai nor hanyou would be happy to know that the magical, mystical sword of their father had been pulled out of the enchanted stone by… a human. That just wasn't how things were supposed to go. She wasn't King Arthur, she wasn't supposed to be here, and she didn't want the blasted thing. "Ah," she tittered nervously, "It… slipped?" 

A gust of wind hit her face and then white silk blocked her vision of the rest of the gravesite. Kagome cautiously peered upward and wished that she had not. She had never been this close to someone so intimidating. "You," he snarled, "Who are you?"

"Sesshoumaru!" the hanyou squeaked from behind them, "Leave her alone, she's got nothing to do with it!" His voice seemed positively panicked and when Kagome heard that, she panicked too. Inuyasha was not the type to come unglued, so she realized she was in serious trouble. 

"D-don't come any closer," she warned him, waving the sword in his face. It was supposed to be magical right? "I'll swing this thing at you!"

Ignoring her baseless threat since she obviously didn't know how to handle the sword, much less transform it, Sesshoumaru replied to his brother. "Neither you or I could pull out the Tessaiga," he reasoned, "Yet she easily got past the barrier. How can this be ignored?"

"I don't know how it happened either but she's just a regular girl, nothing special," blustered Inuyasha, becoming more and more distraught. "Kagome! Give him the sword!"

"No way," she argued. The words were directed to Inuyasha, yet meant for his brother. "He couldn't pull it out, that means it isn't his." She glared at the man in white, daring him to contradict her logic. 

Unfortunately, the hanyou had ways of distracting her at the most inopportune times. "Don't be stupid!" he growled from across the room, "Stop interfering!" 

"Hn." The taiyoukai decided to regain control of the conversation. However amusing it might be to watch his half-brother verbally spar with a human in a snit, now was really not the time. First of all, it was unacceptable that a human could touch or control the sword of his father. For such insult to his family, she would have to die. But he also had to consider the fact that Inuyasha was unable to release the sword. What did that mean? Father did not want either of them to have it? This option was unthinkable. No, the Inu no Taisho had left _him_ the riddle and thus the directions to find the sword. Tessaiga belonged to him. Next, his little brother held the key to answering the riddle, so perhaps Father had intended they work together to obtain the blade, a distasteful but distinctly possible option. In other words, Tessaiga belonged to him, if and only if met his Father's conditions; he must be willing to speak to his half-brother again and admit he was part of the family. This much, he could reason through and comprehend, even if he did not accept it. 

But the human girl? Where did she fit in? He knew the riddle, his brother held the answer to it, and neither one of them could have the treasure unless they had a human girl too? Sesshoumaru growled at where this reasoning was taking him. He _was not_, and would never be, like his father! Er… except in the good ways! Just not the bad human-loving, mortal-mating sort of way! He began counting ways she could die – poison, mutilation by whip…

As the girl began to fume at Inuyasha's knuckle-headed comments, her scent spiked in anger, washing out the nervousness and fear she had been coated with earlier. "Nani?" she complained, her high-pitched tone piercing his ears, and her eyes sparkling with ire toward his half-brother. And the truth finally dawned on him. 

She smelled familiar. Very familiar. Too familiar. It had been over a hundred years since he last laid eyes his Father's despicable second wife, but when he stopped to think about it, this girl looked rather similar. Was she a descendant then? The hated woman had disappeared after the battle with Ryuukotsuei; had she somehow lived through the clash of two titans and fled like a coward, to bear other nasty, human children later in her life? It would explain why the sword responded to this girl. Tessaiga had been used to protect her bloodline before, and the living blade could not distinguish between individuals, unless there was a drastic shift in the blood. So, this girl was the great-great-grandaughter, or some such relation, to his step-mother. Now she would die for certain. 

But first, she would suffer the same degree of disgrace and humiliation that he had suffered from the presence of her ancestor. Golden eyes narrowed, he interrupted the brewing dispute between his half-brother and the girl. "A sword that can destroy a hundred youkai in one swing must go to someone worthy of its power. This alone implies that it is mine. This Sesshoumaru cannot touch such an esteemed blade alone, nevertheless…"

Stepping forward, he crowded the girl against the pedestal that once held the Tessaiga. She gasped lightly and quivered under his intense gaze, as he grazed her hand with sharp claws. "…I will take it." 

Kagome shook her head and gripped the sword more tightly. There was no chance he was getting this! Conceit did not justify a person doing whatever he wanted. Inuyasha was a nice guy, and she refused to believe that nice guys finished last. She slammed the tip of the blade into his cheek (or tried to anyway), and watched the kekkai flare to life as he stopped the attack with one finger. Before she could breathe, he was behind her, pinning her forearms to her torso with one arm. His other hand, the one that had touched her before, now dug into the skin on the back of her hand, and she shrieked as she felt the skin break. 

Her miko powers finally kicked into gear at her pain, and the pair was swathed in pink light. She had never been so glad to lose control. Good to know that even though she couldn't command her aura, it still defended her from harm. But when the dust cleared and the glow faded, she remained trapped. Despite all hopes to the contrary, the taiyoukai had not turned to dust, and judging by his heavy growl, he was extremely mad. She tried to activate her powers again, but they receded further and further from her grasp as the youki around them also disappeared. _How does he do that?_ she wondered. It seemed that without an opposing spiritual force to confront her own powers were of no use. 

"Perhaps I did not make myself clear, miko," he continued venomously, "I will not hold the Tessaiga alone; you shall carry it for me."

As they lifted off the ground, Inuyasha desperately tried to stop their ascent, but once again he moved a fraction of a second slower than his sibling. Kagome struggled against her captor until his grip became painfully tight, practically strangling her into submission. Then, she attempted to drop the sword, since that was what he really wanted out of the whole situation, and discovered with despair that she could no longer wiggle her fingers with his fist wrapped around hers. Physically outmatched, and unable to use her miko powers, she was helpless. 

_I remember trapping both of Souta's hands once in one of mine, so that I could tickle him. _She frowned._ I hope I didn't hurt him as much as this is hurting me. _Above, the portal to the gravesite was closing, and she squirmed to see whether the hanyou and the flea were going to make it out. Sure enough, they were gliding along on one of the undead birds, shouting something unintelligible. And she noted with amusement that the green youkai was hanging on for dear life to the end of his master's fluffy white boa, both of his eyes screwed shut. 

Passing the barrier between the two worlds, Sesshoumaru accelerated while Inuyasha dropped to the ground, no longer able to fly after his brother, and soon he was lost to sight. Cold air punished her face and whipped around her legs, which were exposed to the wind by her short skirt. And to think, only yesterday her dark blue knit top with the cross pattern around the collar and matching light blue skirt had been one of her favorite outfits. Next time she was about to be kidnapped by a demon who traveled through the upper reaches of the atmosphere at mach-speed, she would remember to bring sweats. 

_Hmm. What now? _she pondered. _Maybe if I distract him, he'll let go enough that I can breathe. Just one deep breath, that's all I need_. Her friends at school were always reading trashy romance novels in which the heroine was abducted by a studly guy, and realized while pressed against his chest that she could not resist his charm. Well, she was here to report that this was nothing like that. Having your lungs squeezed to death by anyone, handsome or not, was highly unpleasant. 

"Where are you taking me?" she asked him, feeling this was a simple enough question to start with. No hard feelings, just friendly curiosity. 

"Silence human," came his less than satisfactory reply.

_This is going to be a long trip_, she moaned silently. _And I told Mom I'd be right back! _

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

She awakened with a start as she crashed into a hard-wood floor some time later. After a while, from the lack of oxygen, extreme exhaustion, and the lack of other productive possibilities, she had fallen asleep. It had been rather like snoozing while hang gliding – not a fun experience. 

Rolling over she viewed the room she had quite literally landed in and saw that it was just as cold and bare as its owner. It looked somewhat like a dojo, with a rack of weapons along the wall, and a sprawling picture of a giant white dog along the shoji screens across the way. In the middle of the wall, two empty sword holders held a place of honor amongst the other arms. 

Only a few seconds passed between her rude awakening and the growls she heard from her captor. "Hey!" she protested. "What's the big idea, dropping me like that?" 

"This Sesshoumaru did not wish to touch your human flesh for any longer than necessary," he replied without hesitation. "Stand up." 

"Why you…" she bristled and rose to her feet unsteadily, clutching the rusty old sword to her chest. Because her brain was still taking a siesta, she feared she would spout ill-mannered statements, so she clamped her mouth shut. It was to no avail though, once she heard the youkai's next infuriating comment. 

He slowly paced around her form, as though stalking a rabbit. "Oh? Does it bother you to know there is dirty blood flowing in your body? Having dealt with your kind for quite some time, I can state with confidence that humans are naught but traitors, liars, and cowards, alongside the occasional self-interested warrior."

"Ooooh!" squealed the miko in anger, "Who are you trying to convince? You keep saying these things, but no matter how many times you insult me, I won't think badly of myself, only you." 

Such defiance was intriguing but not intelligent. The girl was treading on thin ice. "Put the sword," Sesshoumaru demanded frigidly as he turned her to face the empty sword stand, "There on the wall."

"No!" she shouted now, even more obstinate than before. "Over my dead body." Which naturally was a very stupid comment to direct toward a dangerous demon who had a bone to pick against humans. Realizing her mistake immediately, she whirled and poked the sword at him, but he merely knocked it aside once more. 

"As you wish," he replied darkly. A spray of noxious smelling green gas swept over her, just like the attacks he had launched against Inuyasha in the gravesite. It stung at first, but the sword quickly began to pulse, and her body felt warm and protected. Coated in dark green goop, she couldn't breathe through the thick substance weighing down her limbs. As her legs collapsed beneath her in shock, she realized that she had actually brushed with death. It was official this time. The man had been trying to kill her. 

Striped hands peeled away some of the muck encasing her figure and she was free to move again. Staring down at her in absolute amazement was a startled taiyoukai. Wait a minute! He had tried to kill her, but the sword had saved her life, meaning that the Inu no Taisho had seen fit to protect her. The sword was made from one of his fangs after all, and so it was probably imbued with his will. The stupid youkai would have to listen to her now, if he had even a modicum of respect for his Father's wishes! _Excellent leverage,_ Kagome decided and sat up, the trauma wearing off now that she had had a moment to think. "Hey!" shouted Kagome. Although she was still trying to be polite in her speech, she objected to this sort of treatment. "You were honestly trying to kill me, weren't you?" 

Sesshoumaru stepped back, aghast. An insignificant human girl had survived his Dokkasou. He had tried to melt her and then retrieve the Tessaiga… but here she was, propping herself up by the blade with a pile of goo on her forehead, acting as lively as the day she was born. Face set in stone as Kagome loudly explained her theory, he realized he would have to do something more drastic to reduce her spirits. Worst of all, he agreed with her conclusion. If the sword had safeguarded her life, then he was bound to do so as well. It was appalling. 

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Myouga bounced uselessly on his keeper's shoulder, trying to cheer the hanyou up, but his words fell on deaf ears. "I failed her," Inuyasha groaned again, "The one person who never betrayed or hated me, and I killed her." He was sitting on the edge of the well, near where he had first met the young miko. Kagome had been so kind and selfless. Annoying at times, yes, but it was his fault she had died. Sesshoumaru would never have run into her if she hadn't been around a worthless hanyou. If he had only prevented her from entering the portal, or from associating with him in the first place. 

"I'll avenge her of course," he told his retainer with half-hearted resolve. "But I don't suppose I'll win." 

"Yes, and you will take back your inheritance!" insisted Myouga. 

"Keh! Keep goin' on about unimportant things, and I'll squash you again." 

With the flea suitably subdued, he returned to his thoughts. His idea was not complicated, but it required a great deal of resolve, so he had to go over it many times. So far, the plan was to track his brother's scent to the castle, break through the barrier, and crush his foe once and for all. Truly, Sesshoumaru had gone too far this time! But first, he would attempt to journey down the well and find Kagome's family. This part also involved a great deal of introspection, as he had no idea what he would say to them to break the news. _Didn't Kagome say that in her time there were no youkai? What will they think of me? _Perhaps he would be lucky, and the well would refuse to work for him. 

Finally, recognizing that he was no closer to a solution than he had been several hours ago, he shook his head and stood on the side of the well. "Ready, Myouga?" he asked his tiny companion. 

"It's not … dangerous there, you say?" The hanyou rolled his eyes in disgust. "Ah, yes then I'm ready." 

The smell of ancient magic assaulted his nose as he fell through the dark air in the well, and blue light swirled around him as he reached the bottom. And Myouga dropped the rest of the way to the ground, alone.


End file.
